Tag Archives: Annie Harper

July 2021 Deal Announcements

Children’s Fiction

Author of I THINK I LOVE YOU Auriane Desombre‘s debut THE SISTER SPLIT, pitched as a reverse Parent Trap, in which a young girl teams up with her future step sister to create a plan full of hijinks that will stop their parents from getting married, so she doesn’t have to move away from the city and leave her best friend – a girl – she’s starting to develop feelings for behind, to Kelsey Horton at Delacorte, in an exclusive submission, for publication in spring 2023, by Penny Moore at Aevitas Creative Management (world).

Alex Kahler writing as K.R. Alexander’s GALLOWGATE, set in a school for banishing wayward ghosts, where a haunted boy finds forbidden magic, otherworldly foes, fierce friends, and queer romance, to David Levithan at Scholastic, for publication in spring 2023, by Brent Taylor at TriadaUS Literary Agency (world).

Adult Fiction

Hayden Stone’s AN UNEXPECTED KIND OF LOVE, pitched as Notting Hill but queer, in which an uptight bookseller stumbles headlong into a relationship with the actor whose movie is filming in his family’s struggling shop, to Heather Howland at Entangled Embrace, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021 (world).

Booker winner for SHUGGIE BAIN Douglas Stuart’s YOUNG MUNGO, a portrayal of working-class life and a suspenseful story of the dangerous first love of two young men born under different stars—a Protestant and a Catholic—who should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, again to Peter Blackstock at Grove/Atlantic, for publication on April 5, 2022, by Anna Stein at ICM (NA).

Author of SEVEN SUSPECTS and A KIND OF JUSTICE Renee James’s BEATNIKKI’S CAFE, in which a middle-aged transgender business woman tries to keep a low profile, but when a goon assaults her business partner, she reduces him to a bloody mess—and suddenly, she and everyone close to her are targets of a revenge-minded thug who is ruthless, clever, and unbound by any moral code, to Michael Nava at Amble, in a nice deal, for publication in March 2022, by Tina Schwartz at The Purcell Agency (world English).

Bronwyn Fischer’s THE RED FERN POEM, pitched as a queer CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS or a modern THE PRICE OF SALT, following a first-year university student and an older woman whose unexpected interest in her sparks an all-consuming and insidious love affair, exploring youthful self-consciousness, self-delusion, and self-definition, to Abby Muller at Algonquin, for publication in spring 2023, by Sam Hiyate at The Rights Factory (world, excl. Canada and UK).

Lambda Literary Award Finalist, GLAAD Media Award winner, and author of REAL QUEER AMERICA Samantha Allen’s PATRICIA WANTS TO CUDDLE, a contemporary horror comedy novel pitched as queer Grendel for the Instagram era, following a group of contestants on a reality television dating competition as they compete for love, and their lives, while on a remote island that’s home to an elusive and woefully misunderstood creature, to Sareena Kamath at Zando, at auction, by Leila Campoli at Stonesong (world English).

Author of HOW TO LIVE IN DETROIT WITHOUT BEING A JACKASS Aaron Foley’s BOYS COME FIRST, about the lives of 30-something Black gay men navigating love, life, and career in Detroit as they confront their evolving friendship and individual hiccups, including workplace micro-aggressions, bad Tinder dates, situationships and frenemies, while attempting to maintain their Blackness in America’s comeback city and the ever-changing expectations of homosexuality in structures largely architected by white gay men, to Anne Trubek at Belt, in a nice deal, for publication in May 2022 (US).

Young Adult Fiction

AJ Mason’s KLOUD 9, a queer space opera graphic novel about a lonely orphan trying to keep himself afloat with odd jobs, and an extraterrestrial star soldier who, after falling in love, are forced to go on the run and flee the solar system, joined by a motley crew, illustrated by Dominic Bustamante, to Erika Turner at IDW Publishing, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2023, by Britt Siess at Britt Siess Creative Management (world).

Author of THE CAMINO CLUB Kevin Craig’s BOOK OF DREAMS, in which a young man is given a book by a mysterious bookseller and falls into its pages, and must find an escape before he becomes a chapter in its horrific narrative; and WHERE IS ETHAN SINCLAIR, in which two young men try to solve the puzzling disappearance of a friend by studying his blog, only to unravel a mystery that sets them on a path to fight for justice for their missing friend—and hopefully bring him home safe, to Annie Harper at Duet, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2022 (world). Rights: MJ Courchesne at Gryphon Publishing Consulting

Rose Szabo’s WE ALL FALL DOWN, the first book in the River City duology, about a city where magic used to thrive and four queer young people are cast as archetypal figures—the maiden, the hero, the monster, and the witch—in an age-old ritual that will revive the flow of magic, even though none of them quite fit the roles thrust upon them and in the end discover that they can only stay true to themselves, to Trisha de Guzman at Farrar, Straus Children’s, in a very nice deal, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2022, by Jennifer Azantian at Azantian Literary Agency (world English).

Author of ENTER TITLE HERE (as Rahul Kanakia) and WE ARE TOTALLY NORMAL Naomi Kanakia’s JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE, about an Indian American trans girl who transfers from her prestigious all-boys’ school to the sister school that she’s always idealized, and has to decide whether she’s content to be treated like a second-class citizen or whether to risk her place by demanding that her school live up to its own principles, to Stephanie Guerdan at Harper Teen, for publication in spring 2023, by Christopher Schelling at Selectric Artists (world).

Amanda DeWitt’s ACES WILD, in which a character pitched as a modern asexual Kaz Brekker assembles a crew of ace teens he met through fandom forums and leads them on a Las Vegas heist to prove his incarcerated mother was set up by a rival casino owner, to Ashley Hearn at Peachtree Teen, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2022, by Cate Hart at Harvey Klinger (world).

Lambda Literary Award finalist and author of RUNNING WILD Lucy Jane Bledsoe’s NO STOPPING US NOW, pitched as Mrs. America meets A League of Their Own, where a 17-year-old girl whose chance encounter with Gloria Steinem inspires her to fight for her public school to actually follow the new Title IX law, facing a menacing coach and navigating her feelings for a fellow teammate in the process; a story about the joy of sports and the power of sisterhood based on the author’s own activism as a champion athlete in 1970s Portland, Oregon, to Kat Georges at Three Rooms Press, for publication in spring 2022 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Title IX’s passage, by Reiko Davis at DeFiore and Company (world).

Editor of KINDRED Michael Earp, ed.’s fully illustrated untitled YA queer fairy tales anthology, which interprets original fairy tales with a queered ideology, questioning the heteronormative culture from which these traditional stories come and how that is perpetuated when left unexamined; contributors include Amie Kaufman, Mackenzi Lee, Dean Atta, Will Kostakis, Lily Wilkinson, Sophie Gonzales, Alison Evans, Alexandra Villasante, Abdi Nazemian, Gary Lonesborough, and James Brandon, to Meg Whelan at Affirm Press, by Ben Fowler at Abner Stein, on behalf of Taryn Fagerness Agency and Linda Epstein at Emerald City Literary Agency (world).

Non-Fiction

Journalist, critic, and host of Crooked Media’s podcast Keep It Ira Madison III’s PURE INNOCENT FUN, a collection of essays that explores popular culture of the 1990s and earlier through the author’s perspective and lived experience as a Black, gay TV writer and cultural critic, to Jamia Wilson at Random House, at auction, by Erin Malone at William Morris Endeavor (NA).

National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Michener Center for Writers fellow Greg Marshall‘s LEG: THE STORY OF A LIMB AND THE BOY WHO GREW FROM IT, a memoir that grapples with family, disability, illness, and coming of age in two closets–as a gay man and as a man living with cerebral palsy–while exploring with trenchant humor what it means to “transform” when there are parts of yourself you cannot change, pitched in the vein of Ryan O’Connell meets David Sedaris, to Zachary Knoll at Simon & Schuster, in a pre-empt, by Hannah Brattesani at Friedrich Agency (NA).

Slate journalist June Thomas’s WHERE ARE ALL THE LESBIANS?, a cultural history, celebration, and critical look at queer women’s communities in the second half of the 20th century, to Seal Press, at auction.

January Book Deal Announcements

Children’s/YA

Miriam Newman at Candlewick has bought THE HEARTBREAK BAKERY, a new YA novel by Amy Rose Capetta in an exclusive submission, in which agender teen baker Syd deals with first heartbreak by whipping up brownies—which break up everyone who eats them, including the owners of LGBTQIAP+ institution The Proud Muffin. With the help of magical baking and a cute transmasc bike messenger, Syd must save relationships and defend the bakery from disappearing in a fast-changing Austin, Texas. Publication is set for fall 2021; Sara Crowe at Pippin Properties did the deal for North American rights.

Ashley Hearn at Page Street has bought world English rights to author Alison Ames’s debut, THE HAUNTING OF MOON BASIN, a queer YA horror with shades of SAWKILL GIRLS. After a mining explosion coated Moon Basin in ash, residents moved just outside the uninhabitable zone and set up a new settlement in the mine’s shadow. Years later, the people of the New Basin begin experiencing strange phenomena—sleepwalking, night terrors, voices only they can hear—prompting four teen girls to investigate. Publication is slated for spring 2021; Rena Rossner at the Deborah Harris Agency brokered the deal.

Jason June‘s JAY’S GAY AGENDA, which follows a teen boy after he moves to Seattle from his rural high school, introducing him to other queer teens for the very first time, and allowing him to finally cross items off his gay romance to-do list, to Megan Ilnitzki at Harper Teen, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2021, by Brent Taylor at TriadaUS Literary Agency (world English).

ONE MAN GUY and HOLD MY HAND author Michael Barakiva‘s THESE PRECIOUS STONES, pitched as SAILOR MOON meets SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, about an eclectic group of queer and international teens who learn that they must bear the magical gems that will save the universe from an ancient galactic threat, to Trisha de Guzman at Farrar, Straus Children’s, for publication in fall 2021, by Josh Adams at Adams Literary (world English).

Mabel Hsu at HarperCollins/Tegen has bought, at auction, in a two-book deal, THE (UN)POPULAR VOTE by debut author Jasper Sanchez. Pitched as RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE meets The West Wing, this YA contemporary novel follows a transmasculine teenager who defies his congressman father and runs in a three-way brawl for class president. Publication is planned for summer 2021; Claire Friedman at InkWell Management brokered the deal for world English rights.

Adult Fiction

Alexis Hall‘s THE BEST OF ME, a transgender Regency romance about a woman who is reunited with her childhood best friend, the Duke of Gracewood, who believes she died in the Battle of Waterloo, at auction, in a two-book deal; and WINNER BAKES ALL, a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of a British baking reality show, in an exclusive submission, in a three-book deal, to Amy Pierpont at Forever, by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Handspun Literary (world).

P. J. Vernon’s BATH HAUS, pitched as GONE GIRL with gays and Grindr, about a young gay man whose life spirals out of control after an indiscretion, to Robert Bloom at Doubleday, by Chris Bucci at CookeMcDermid (world).

Courtney Maguire’s INNOCENCE LOST, book one of the Youkai Bloodlines series, set in feudal-era Japan, in which a servant is different—not really a man, not quite a woman; in the wake of their failure to protect a boy they saw as a son from their abusive master, they are sold into the house of a young nobleman, who is the opposite of everything they have ever known—gentle, kind, and generous; their friendship blooms into a profound love, but the nobleman harbors a dark secret: he is a youkai, a blood demon, to Heather McCorkle at City Owl Press, in a nice deal, for publication in September 2020 (US).

RITA Award-winning author Elia Winters‘s HAIRPIN CURVES, a f/f frenemies-to-lovers romance in which two former friends embark on an epic road trip that promises to change their lives forever, to Kerri Buckley at Carina Press Adores, for publication in August 2020, by Saritza Hernandez at Corvisiero Literary Agency (world).

OLYMPIA KNIFE and SWEET author Alysia Constantine‘s LUCKMONKEY, about a punk band whose members are anti-capitalist agitators who break into homes and businesses, each time stealing one possession and leaving something different in its place; but when one of them steals a wind-up monkey, things deteriorate into squabbles and bad decisions, forcing them to weigh the work of political resistance against their individual needs for stability and safety, to Annie Harper at Interlude Press, in a nice deal, for publication in January 2021.

Author of EMPIRE OF SAND and REALM OF ASH Tasha Suri‘s THE JASMINE THRONE, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess’s traitor brother, to Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit, in a three-book deal, for publication in spring of 2021, by Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary Agency (world).

Non-Fiction

Celebrity fashion stylist Andrew Gelwicks‘s THE QUEER ADVANTAGE: CONVERSATIONS WITH LGBTQ+ LEADERS ON THE POWER OF IDENTITY, collecting personal interviews with LGBTQ+ luminaries from the worlds of business, Hollywood, tech, sports, and politics on how they leveraged their unique challenges to supercharge their careers, to David Lamb at Hachette Go, with Mollie Weisenfeld editing, for publication in fall 2020, by Ian Bonaparte at Janklow & Nesbit (world).

Lambda Literary Award-winning author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore‘s BETWEEN CERTAIN DEATH AND A POSSIBLE FUTURE, an anthology of essays by queer writers coming of age in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, exploring how the specter of death suffuses desire for an entire generation that internalized trauma as part of becoming queer, to Brian Lam at Arsenal Pulp Press, for publication in fall 2021, by Amanda Annis at Trident Media Group (world).

 

Fave Five: All-Queer Anthologies

All Out and Out Now ed. by Saundra Mitchell

Summer Love and If the Fates Allow ed. by Annie Harper

Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time, ed. by Hope Nicholson

Absolute Power: Tales of Queer Villainy, ed. by Erica Friedman

Transcendent, Transcendent 2, and Transcendent 3, ed. by Bogi Takács

Bonus: Coming up in February 2020, Behind the Sun, Above the Moon ed. by Brooklyn Ray; in June 2020, Short Stuff ed. by Alysia Constantine; and in January 2021, Trans-Galactic Bike Ride ed. by Lydia Rogue

Double Bonus: As far as I know, it’s only available in Portuguese: Pagina 7’s Todas as cores do Natal

November Book Deal Announcements

Children’s

SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner Lawrence Schimel’s EARLY ONE MORNING and BEDTIME, NOT PLAYTIME, two board books that show LGBTQ families living ordinary lives, illustrated by Elina Braslina, to Ruth Linka at Orca Books, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2021 (NA).

Jeremy Whitley’s THE DOG KNIGHT, in which a non-binary kid must balance the real life troubles of middle school with the chance to face down the forces of chaos alongside a council of dog superheroes, illustrated by Bre Indigo, to Holly West at Feiwel and Friends, in a nice deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in early 2021, by Moe Ferrara at BookEnds for the author, and by Brent Taylor at TriadaUS Literary Agency for the illustrator (world).

Young Adult

Kate Prosswimmer at S&S/McElderry has acquired LIES LIKE POISON by Chelsea Pitcher, in which a queer teen is charged with a murder she plotted to commit—before she ultimately backed out—and now must team up with her conspirators, whom she’s not sure she can trust, to uncover the truth and clear her name in a high-stakes whodunit for fans of Riverdale and Kara Thomas’s The Cheerleaders. Publication is slated for fall 2020; Mandy Hubbard at Emerald City Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights.

Melbourne-based professor of literary studies’ debut novel Kate Hazel Hall’s FROM DARKNESS: Ari Wyndham is looking forward to summer holidays and a new baby sister. But when a tiger-snake delivers a deathly bite, a beautiful, ghostly and strangely familiar young woman appears, summoning Ari’s soul to the underworld. Ari and her summoner decide to break the rules and stay in the land of the living, where they must battle the evils of the underworld and the laws of life and death to prove that their love is strong enough to defy the Fates and save the world from darkness, to Annie Harper at Duet Books, the YA imprint of Interlude Press. Publication is slated for November 2020.

Carolina Ortiz at HarperCollins has acquired L.L. McKinney’s ESCAPING MR. ROCHESTER, a YA reimagining of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel that asks: what if the real villain of Jane Eyre was actually Mr. Rochester? In this queer romance, Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason—Mr. Rochester’s wife, whom he’s imprisoned within the house for years—must save each other from the horrifying machinations of Mr. Rochester. Publication is planned for winter 2022; Victoria Marini at Irene Goodman Literary Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.

Orlando Dos Reis at Scholastic Press has acquired HERE THE WHOLE TIME, a contemporary YA debut by Brazilian author Vitor Martins, originally published in Portuguese in Brazil, and translated by Larissa Helena. The novel follows Felipe – who is fat and gay – as he spends 15 days with his lifelong crush, Caio, in a love story about body image, self-acceptance, and standing up to bullying. Publication is slated for Fall 2020; Taissa Reis and Gui Liaga at Pagina 7 Agency in Brazil negotiated the deal for World Rights (except Portuguese).

Adult

Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize winner and SUGAR RUN author Mesha Maren’s PERPETUAL WEST, the story of a young couple—a Mexican-American man in search of his past, and a West Virginian woman seeking a future—trying to make their home among the academics and young leftists in the Mexican border city of Juárez, pulled from one another by an affair with a Lucha Libre fighter, a troubled cartel leader, their fears of and tethers to their own bodies, and the loud cry of home, to Kathy Pories at Algonquin, by Bill Clegg at The Clegg Agency (NA).

Asian-Australian former diplomat and international development adviser Shelley Parker-Chan‘s SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN, pitched as Mulan meets the SONG OF ACHILLES, a queer, alt-history reimagining of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty as an iron-willed peasant girl who steals her brother’s identity and great fate, and, defying the bounds of gender, rises from monk to leader of the rebellion against China’s Mongol rulers, to Diana Gill at Tor, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2021, by Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (world English).

Gordy Sauer’s CHILD IN THE VALLEY, a coming-of-age story set in the harsh landscape of Gold Rush America, centering on a 17-year-old orphan’s journey to California in a wagon train of ruthless 49ers, which redefines his morality within the context of greed, his sexuality, and the still-fledgling American government, to Meg Reid at Hub City Press, for publication in April 2021, by Kirby Kim at Janklow & Nesbit (world English).

Catherine Hernandez’s CROSSHAIRS, a tale of a dystopian near-future, where a fascist regime threatens the lives of people of color, the disabled, the elderly, and all “other” communities, and four larger-than-life LGBTQ survivors band together and fight back, to Michelle Herrera Mulligan at Atria, for publication in fall 2020, by Marilyn Biderman at Transatlantic Literary Agency.

Kris Ripper’s THE LOVE STUDY, in which a commitment-phobic office temp agrees to be featured on a popular nonbinary YouTuber’s dating advice show, only to find himself falling for the host, to Stephanie Doig at Carina Press, in a three-book deal, by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Handspun Literary (world).

Cat Sebastian’s A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO CAPITAL CRIME, a Georgian historical romance about a dashing highwayman and the disgraced aristocrat who tempts him out of retirement as they join forces to bring down a common enemy, to Elle Keck at Avon, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency (world).

Non-Fiction

Transgender comic artist and illustrator Julia Kaye‘s MY LIFE IN TRANSITION, picking up where her first book, SUPER LATE BLOOMER left off, showing what it’s like to live as a trans woman in modern society, the importance of one’s “chosen family,” navigating moments of dysphoria and misgendering, learning to lean on friends in times of need, and finding peace in a life that keeps moving forward post transition, again to Allison Adler at Andrews McMeel, in an exclusive submission, by Meg Thompson at Thompson Literary Agency (world).

Executive director of Bard Early College Initiative and education faculty member Michael Sadowski’s MEN I’VE NEVER BEEN, pitched in the tradition of BETTYVILLE and THE TENDER BAR, the coming-of-age journey of a gender non-conforming male trying to navigate the blind alleys of traditional manhood, facing the gauntlet of masculinity tests he feels destined to fail: the role models that don’t deliver, the TV tropes and archetypes that never seem to fit; about finding one’s true identity, to Nathan MacBrien at University of Wisconsin Press in the Living Out series, for publication in spring 2021, by Joelle Delbourgo at Joelle Delbourgo Associates (world).
Rights: rights@uwpress.wisc.edu

October Book Deal Announcements

Yep, it’s a brand-new feature celebrating book deals! This is a combination of deal announcements that have been submitted through the site and copied from Publisher’s Marketplace and Publishers Weekly, with some minor editing. If you’d like to submit a deal, you can do so here.

Children’s/YA Fiction

Rob Sanders’s BLING BLAINE, about a child who is all about bling and glitter until complaints pour in and bling is banned from school, but then allies come to the rescue, illustrated by Letizia Rizzo, to Christina Pulles formerly at Sterling Children’s, with Eve Adler editing, for publication in fall 2020, by Rubin Pfeffer at Rubin Pfeffer Content for the author, and by Emily Coggins at Astound US for the illustrator (world).

Vicki Lame at Wednesday Books has acquired LGBTQ Reads founder Dahlia Adler’s YA novel, COOL FOR THE SUMMER, about a girl named Lara who finally lands the guy of her dreams, only to have her unexpected(ly female) summer fling transfer to her school for their senior year. Publication is slated for summer 2021; DongWon Song at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency brokered the two-book deal for North American rights.

Author of PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE and BURN BABY BURN BABY, and board member of the Ontario Writer’s Conference Kevin Craig’s THE CAMINO CLUB, in which six wayward teens are given an ultimatum after getting in trouble with the law: serve time in juvenile detention for their crimes, or walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route across Spain; when it becomes clear the long walk isn’t really all that much of an option, they set out on a journey that will either make or break who they are and who they are to become, to Annie Harper at Duet, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in October 2020.
Rights: Mary Jo Courchesne, Gryphon Publishing Consulting

Jess Verdi’s‘s FOLLOW YOUR ARROW, after breaking up with her long-term girlfriend and falling for the new guy in town, an openly queer social media influencer faces blowback from her fans and is forced to define what it means to be bi—to the world, and to herself, to Aimee Friedman at Scholastic, by Kate McKean at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.

Maggie Tokuda-Hall‘s SQUAD, about a clique of teen girls whose favorite pastime is to get dressed up; go to parties; target entitled, date-rapey bros; turn into wolves; and eat them, illustrated by Lisa Sterle, to Martha Mihalick at Greenwillow, for publication in fall 2021, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (NA).

Alexandra Cooper at HarperTeen has acquired, at auction, Laurel Flores Fantauzzo’s THE HEARTBREAK OF CORAZON TAGUBIO. Cory Tagubio is an outcast at her all-girls Catholic high school. In the wake of an accident, Cory grows close to her history teacher, Ms. Holden, but when the crush turns into something more, Cory is shipped off to her half-brother in the Philippines, leaving her to discover how her family and their country have shaped her past and how they might change her future. Publication is set for winter 2021; Andrea Morrison at Writers House sold world English rights.

Jessica Garrison at Dial has bought, on exclusive submission, Stephanie Oakes’s THE MEADOWS, which centers on a queer girl who has pretended to “reform” following years in a government-sanctioned conversion therapy center, but can’t forget the girl she left behind, and resolves to find her. Publication is set for fall 2021; Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency handled the deal for world rights.

Daniel Ehrenhaft at Soho Teen has bought Carly Heath’s debut YA novel, THE HEATHENS OF MUSKOX HOLLOW. Set in 1904 Norway, the novel follows a trio of queer teens—two boys and their best friend, Asta—who decide to defy the expectations of their rural Scandinavian village by leaving their families, living on their own, and challenging the town’s patriarch in the region’s annual winter horse race. Publication is set for fall 2021; Steven Chudney at the Chudney Agency brokered the deal for North American English rights.

Cassandra Rose Clarke‘s FORGET THIS EVER HAPPENED, queer speculative fiction set in a run-down Southern town where space and time are inconsistent, to Mora Couch at Holiday House, for publication in fall 2020, by Stacia Decker at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (world).

Diana Pinguicha‘s A MIRACLE OF ROSES, pitched as an f/f #ownvoices retelling of the Portuguese miracle of the same name, where the Princess of Aragon enters a bargain with an Enchanted Moura so she can reverse her gift that turns all the food she touches into flowers, to Lydia Sharp at Entangled Teen, by Travis Pennington at The Knight Agency (world).

Brianna Shrum‘s 13 WAYS TO START A FOREST FIRE, in which a 17-year-old girl is trapped by a freak mudslide and, in order to survive the cruel Rockies in the dead of winter, decides to trust the one boy she knows she shouldn’t, to Nicole Frail at Sky Pony Press, by Steven Salpeter at Curtis Brown.

Deya Muniz’s THE PRINCESS AND THE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH, in which a lady, a denizen of the Kingdom of Fromage, must disguise herself as a man in order to inherit her father’s estate, but her secret becomes difficult to keep once she falls in love with a royal princess, to Andrea Colvin at Little, Brown Children’s, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2021 (world).

Sasha Laurens’s A WICKED MAGIC, the story of two teens and new witches whose friendship comes to an abrupt end when a spell they foolishly cast summons an ancient force that steals one of the girls’ boyfriends; they are then forced to work together with a new friend who is harboring a magical secret of her own to rescue him, to Ruta Rimas at Razorbill, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2020, by Jennifer Udden at New Leaf Literary & Media (world English). Publication is set for July 27, 2020.

Adult Fiction

Karelia Stetz-Waters‘s untitled book, in which two very different women find themselves running a sex toy shop that one of them inherited and soon fall in love as the business struggles for survival and family obligations threaten to tear them apart, to Madeleine Colavita at Forever Yours, by Jane Dystel at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (NA).

Juliette Wade’s sci-fi MAZES OF POWER, in which a fever strikes the cavern city of Pelismara, and Tagaret must represent his Family in the competition for Heir to the Throne, but a power struggle and an exploitative brother stand in his way, to Sheila Gilbert at DAW by Kristopher O’Higgins at Scribe Agency (NA). Publication is set for February 4, 2020.

Anbara Salam’s BELLADONNA, a story of friendship and obsession set in the 1950s, following two schoolgirls from Connecticut whose lives are changed forever when they travel to a silent convent in northern Italy to study art for a year, to Amanda Bergeron at Berkley by Catherine Drayton at Inkwell Management, on behalf of Hattie Grunewald at Blake Friedmann, now at The Blair Partnership (NA). Publication is set for June 9, 2020.

University of Louisiana in Lafayette PhD candidate Caitlin Vance’s THE PAPER GARDEN, a darkly humorous, gothic, and speculative story collection that explores contemporary queer romances, mother-daughter relationships, and mental illness by reimagining fairy tales or myths, to Hasanthika Sirisena at 7.13 Books, for publication in spring 2021.

Director of Creative Writing at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and author of five books Timothy Schaffert‘s THE PERFUME THIEF, about a queer American expat with an infamous past as a thief of rare scents who retires to Paris to become a legitimate perfumer, crafting unique scents scents for the city’s cabaret performers and sex workers, until the Nazis occupy the city and seek her expertise for a sinister purpose, to Margo Shickmanter at Doubleday, in a good deal, for publication in 2021, by Alice Tasman at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (world English).

Kristen Arnett‘s SAMSON, a novel of motherhood, expectations, and toxic masculinity within a queer household, and WITH FOXES, a diverse, blackly humorous story collection, to Cal Morgan at Riverhead, in a major deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Serene Hakim at Ayesha Pande Literary (NA).

Adult Non-Fiction

Griffin Poetry Prize winner Billy-Ray Belcourt’s A HISTORY OF MY BRIEF BODY, a meditation on grief, joy, love, and sex at the intersection of indigeneity and queerness, to Eric Obenauf at Two Dollar Radio, by Stephanie Sinclair at Transatlantic Literary Agency (US).

University of Georgia MFA in narrative nonfiction and Lamba Literary fellow Martin Padgett’s MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS: A DECADE OF DRAG, DRUGS AND DISCO AT THE SWEET GUM HEAD, following the intersecting journeys of drag queen John Greenwell, also known as Rachel Wells, and civil rights activist Bill Smith through the gay rights movement and drag culture in 1970s Atlanta, to Amy Cherry at Norton, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Beth Marshea at Ladderbird Literary Agency (NA).

Film/TV

Jacqueline Carey‘s KUSHIEL’S LEGACY series, which spans three epic trilogies set in Terre d’Ange and deals with a remarkable courtesan who saves her nation, the adventures of her adopted son, and ultimately, the trials of Moirin, a descendant of the legendary ruling house, to Lionsgate, with Dan Hadl producing, by Jane Dystel at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

K.D. Edwards‘s THE LAST SUN, a queer tarot-inspired fantasy, to Escape Artists, by Kim Yau at Paradigm, on behalf of Sara Megibow at kt literary.

Tom Ryan‘s KEEP THIS TO YOURSELF, in which a group of lifelong friends is shattered when a serial killer strikes their small town and claims one of their own; one year later, unable to let go, a teen finds himself investigating new clues, and begins to wonder if he can trust anything, including his feelings for his best friend, the boy who died, optioned by Robert Munic of Pull the Pin Productions and Cheryl Bayer of Living Popups, with Munic and Baker producing, by Kim Yau at Paradigm, on behalf of Eric Smith of P.S. Literary Agency.

Audio

Adiba Jaigirdar‘s THE HENNA WARS, to Emily Parliman at Listening Library, by Brent Taylor at Triada US, on behalf of Uwe Stender.

A Cure for the Common Grump: a Guest Post by Erin Finnegan (Standing Under the Mistletoe with Interlude Press: Day 3)

Standing Under the Mistletoe with Interlude Press: Day 3

A kiss can lead to so many unexpected things…especially one that takes place under the mistletoe. Join authors Killian B. Brewer, Pene Henson, Erin Finnegan, Lilah Suzanne, and Lynn Charles as they explore the most tantalizing literary kisses and their lasting impact in books in this new series, Standing Under the Mistletoe with Interlude Press. Every day from December 4th to December 8th, HEA USA Today, The Book Smugglers, LGBTQ Reads, All About Romance, and The Mary Sue will feature a new article from each author of the LGBTQ+ holiday themed collection, If the Fates Allow (out now from Interlude Press).

Buy it: Interlude * Amazon * B&N * iBooks * Kobo * Smashwords * Book Depository

A Cure for the Common Grump By Erin Finnegan

I’ll admit it: I love grumps.

In real life, give me friends with kindness and humor. But in between the pages, I want flawed characters, protagonists who are forced into a revelatory moment. And to make my reading complete, please make them tormented, and just a bit obtuse when it comes to love.

There’s one thing that can set the wheels in motion. You know it; I know it. It’s a kiss, or the promise of one, or even the moment that demands one but it somehow slips away, sending my beloved, brooding grump on a path of romantic self-discovery.

But until that moment, and sometimes after it, please, let them be grumptastic.

You can find them brooding on any bookshelf, from literary classics to science fiction (Han Solo? Space Grump.) to contemporary YA.

One of my favorite books is Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient. The consuming affair that unravels lives and may change the course of war isn’t every reader’s cup of tea, but this poetic and tragic story of the affair between cartographer and a woman married to a member of his expedition team in pre-World War II Egypt is filled with delicious angst.

Almásy is your classic distant, brooding character in the pre-war passages of the book. But his post-war recollections of the relationship are transcendent; the moment that he and Katharine end their brief affair would seem to demand a kiss, but it’s absence serves as a painful accent point to the moment.

Now there is no kiss. Just one embrace. He untugs himself from her and walks away, then turns. She is still there. He comes back within a few yards of her, one finger raised to make a point.

“I just want you to know. I don’t miss you yet.”

His face awful to her, trying to smile. Her head sweeps away from him and hits the side of the gatepost. He sees it hurt her, notices the wince. But they have separated already into themselves now, the walls up at her insistence. Her jerk, her pain, is accidental, is intentional. Her hand is near her temple.

“You will,” she says.

I try to treat my books with respect—no cracked spines, thankyouverymuch—but I may have thrown my copy of The English Patient against the nearest wall when I first read that scene…in a good way. Those two prescient words serve in lieu of a kiss that is desperately left wanting.

Frustrating? Yes, intentionally so. A kiss-that-isn’t and leaves you wanting more.

The classics are filled with angsty, romantic protagonists: Darcy, Gatsby, and of course Heathcliff, among the royalty of romantic literary grumps.

Let’s be clear, Heathcliff is no gem. He’s brutal, emotionally abusive. He’s also tortured, haunted, and, it would seem against his wishes, deeply in love with Catherine Earnshaw. Their love story isn’t resolved in a kiss—it happens on her deathbed, after all—but it is cemented by it. Heathcliff is haunted by Catherine’s death—emotionally and eventually, literally.

These characters are often male, but I would like to see more women in the literary grump club. It plays counter to romantic stereotypes and opens the character up for some wonderful tics and traits.

In my 2016 novel Luchador, Lola—a champion boxer-turned-luchadora in love with a ambitious burlesque dancer—served this role. I loved turning the tables on this trope. Lola was tough and threatening, but in the presence of Bonnie “Fanny Vice” McCreary, those rough edges smooth. Love heals, folks.

Which is the point of my Grump 2.0, Jack Volarde in Last Call at the Casa Blanca Bar & Grille, a short story in the Interlude Press holiday anthology, If the Fates Allow.

Jack, a political consultant, isn’t so much grumpy as he is driven. It’s not ambition that fuels that drive, but a sense of loss that has numbed his senses—until a bartender forces his hand. Jack has no interest in finding someone new, but he soon finds himself into a slow dance in the shadows of Christmas lights.

Javi paused and angled his face to Jack’s. The kiss was brief, comforting, and gentle. Jack hesitated, but didn’t pull away.

“Mistletoe,” Javi said, smiling. “I had to.”

He laced a hand through Jack’s hair, and kissed him again. It was more determined, more certain—a cool, electric rush that started at Jack’s lips and rushed to his fingers and toes. It felt like life itself.

A kiss can represent so many things: a beginning, an end, a revelation, or a moment of healing.

And there are other kisses, the ones that bring both resolution and the promise of something new. Think of first kisses, of those eye-opening moments of “Oh.”

Think, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

A kiss, and kissing in general, is a bit of a theme in Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s beloved coming of age story. Ari and Dante talk about kissing quite a lot: what they expect from it, whether they should try it themselves, the differences between kissing girls and kissing boys.

But this book keeps (spoiler alert) the kiss that matters to the very final sentences of the book. The thing you know must happen, the game-changer, that 358-page build to a simple moment between friends who are clearly destined to be so much more, plays out in a simple, straightforward moment as Ari, reluctant in love and sometimes grumpy in friendship, accepts that he is in love with his best friend.

“Try it again,” I said. “Kiss me.”

“No,” he said.

“Kiss me.”

“No.” And then he smiled. “You kiss me.”

I placed my hand on the back of his neck. I pulled him toward me. And kissed him. I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And he kept kissing me back.

Could the discovery of the joy of love play out more simply, or more believably, than a kid thinking in wonder, “I kissed him”?

And in that transcendent moment of revelation, love proves itself the cure for the common grump.

About If Fates Allow, out now from Interlude Press: During the holidays, anything is possible—a second chance, a promised future, an unexpected romance, a rekindled love, or a healed heart. Authors Killian B. Brewer, Pene Henson, Erin Finnegan, Lilah Suzanne, and Lynn Charles share their stories about the magic of the season.

About Erin Finnegan’s story, Last Call at the Casa Blanca Bar & Grille

As the one-year anniversary of his lover’s death rolls around on Christmas, Jack Volarde finds himself at their old haunt—a bar called the Casa Blanca, where a new bartender helps him open up about loss, and see brightness in a future that had grown dim.

Erin Finnegan is a former journalist and a winemaker who lives in the foothills outside Los Angeles. Her novel Luchador was named one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2016, and along with her 2014 debut novel, Sotto Voce, received both a Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year award and a PW starred review.

Connect with Erin: Website | Twitter | Facebook

New Releases: December 2017

If the Fates Allow, ed. by Annie Harper (1st)

During the holidays, anything is possible—a second chance, a promised future, an unexpected romance, a rekindled love, or a healed heart. Authors Killian B. Brewer, Lynn Charles, Erin Finnegan, Pene Henson, and Lilah Suzanne share their stories about the magic of the season.

“Gracious Living Magazine Says It Must Be a Live Tree” by Killian B. Brewer
Determined to make his first Christmas with his new boyfriend magazine-perfect, Marcus seeks the advice of lovable busy bodies, the Do-Nothings Club. When he learns that his boyfriend, Hank, may have ordered a ring, Marcus’ attempts to transform his home into a winter wonderland get out of hand.

“True North” by Pene Henson
Shay Allen returns to her hometown in Montana for the holidays with her best friend Devon with the intent to return home to L.A. by New Year’s Eve. Instead, the weather traps them in the small town, but the there’s a bright spot: her old crush Milla is still in town.

“Last Call at the Casa Blanca Bar & Grille” by Erin Finnegan
As the one-year anniversary of his lover’s death rolls around on Christmas, Jack Volarde finds himself at their old haunt—a bar called the Casa Blanca, where a new bartender helps him open up about loss, and see brightness in a future that had grown dim.

“Halfway Home” by Lilah Suzanne
Avery Puckett has begun to wonder if her life has become joyless. One night, fate intervenes in the form of a scraggly dog shivering and alone in a parking lot. Avery takes him to a nearby shelter called Halfway Home where she meets bright and beautiful Grace, who is determined to save the world one stray at a time.

“Shelved” by Lynn Charles
When library clerk Karina Ness meets a new patron, lonely business owner, Wesley Lloyd, she puts her own love life on hold and begins a holiday matchmaking mission to connect Wes with her uncle Tony.

Buy it: Interlude Press

Winterglass by Benjanun Sriduangkaew (5th)

The city-state Sirapirat once knew only warmth and monsoon. When the Winter Queen conquered it, she remade the land in her image, turning Sirapirat into a country of snow and unending frost. But an empire is not her only goal. In secret, she seeks the fragments of a mirror whose power will grant her deepest desire.

At her right hand is General Lussadh, who bears a mirror shard in her heart, as loyal to winter as she is plagued by her past as a traitor to her country. Tasked with locating other glass-bearers, she finds one in Nuawa, an insurgent who’s forged herself into a weapon that will strike down the queen.

To earn her place in the queen’s army, Nuawa must enter a deadly tournament where the losers’ souls are given in service to winter. To free Sirapirat, she is prepared to make sacrifices: those she loves, herself, and the complicated bond slowly forming between her and Lussadh.

If the splinter of glass in Nuawa’s heart doesn’t destroy her first.

Buy it:  Apex * Amazon * Kobo * iBooks * Smashwords

Sea of Strangers by Erica Cameron (5th)

The only way for Khya to get her brother back alive is to kill Varan—the immortal ruler who can’t be killed. But not even Varan knew what he was doing when he perverted magic and humanity to become immortal.

Khya’s leading her group of friends and rebels into the mountains that hold Varan’s secrets, but if risking all their lives is going to be worth it, she has to give up everything else—breaking the spell that holds her brother captive, and jeopardizing her deepening relationship with Tessen, the boy who has been by turns her rival and refuge since her brother disappeared. Immortality itself might be her only answer, but if that’s where Khya has to go, she can’t ask Tessen or her friends to follow.

Buy it: Entangled

Cloaked in Shadow by Ben Alderson (5th)

Zacriah Trovirn is concerned with two things in life: hunting and dodging Petrer, the boy who broke his heart.

Heartbreak becomes a distant concern when Zacriah is taken to the Elven capital of Thessolina, where he is forced into King Dalior’s new legion of shapeshifters. But Zacriah isn’t a shapeshifter. In truth, he doesn’t know what he is.

Zacriah joins forces with new friends and they soon find themselves embroiled in a clash between the three Elven continents. With war looming on the horizon, Zacriah must learn to use his latent power to fight and protect those he loves before they are destroyed.

Buy it: Amazon * B&N

Tailor-Made by Yolanda Wallace (12th)

Before Grace Henderson began working as a tailor in her father’s bespoke suit shop in Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn, she established a hard and fast rule about not dating clients. The edict is an easy one for her to follow, considering the overwhelming majority of the shop’s clients are men. But when Dakota Lane contacts her to commission a suit to wear to her sister’s wedding, Grace finds herself tempted to throw all the rules out the window.

Dakota Lane works as a bicycle messenger by day and moonlights as a male model. Her high-profile career, gender-bending looks, and hard-partying ways garner her plenty of romantic attention, but she would rather play the field than settle down. When she meets sexy tailor Grace Henderson, however, she suddenly finds herself in the market for much more than a custom suit.

Buy it: Amazon * B&N

Freed by Flame and Storm by Becky Allen (12th)

Revolution is nigh, and one seventeen-year-old girl stands at the head of it all.

Jae used to be a slave, laboring with the rest of her people under a curse that forced her to obey any order she was given. At seventeen, she found the source of her people’s lost magic and became the only person to break free—ever. Now she wants to use her power to free the rest of her people, but the ruling class will do anything to stop her.

Jae knows that breaking the curse on her people would cause widespread chaos, even unimaginable violence between the castes, and her caste would likely see the worst of it. Many would die. But to let them remain shackled is to doom them to continue living without free will.

How is one girl, raised a slave and never taught to wield power, supposed to decide the fate of a nation?

(Note: this is a sequel to a non-LGBTQ book, and contains f/f romance)

Buy it: Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Penguin Random House *IndieBound

Right Here, Right Now by Georgia Beers (12th)

Accountant and financial advisor Lacey Chamberlain doesn’t consider herself a control freak. She’s merely a planner—orderly, neat, and content in her tidy little life. When a marketing firm moves into the empty office next door, the loud-music-playing, stinky-food-ordering, kickball-in-the-hall staff make Lacey crazy.

Marketing expert Alicia Wright is spontaneous, flies by the seat of her pants, and lives in the moment—all the things Lacey is not. She’s also gorgeous, thoughtful, and seems determined to make Lacey like her.

They say opposites attract, but for how long? And is that really a good idea?

Buy it: Amazon * B&N

Outside the Lines by Anna Zabo (18th)

Buy it: Riptide

Three Sides of a Heart, ed. by Natalie C. Parker (19th)

These top YA authors tackle the much-debated trope of the love triangle, and the result is sixteen fresh, diverse, and romantic stories you don’t want to miss.

This collection, edited by Natalie C. Parker, contains stories written by Renee Ahdieh, Rae Carson, Brandy Colbert, Katie Cotugno, Lamar Giles, Tessa Gratton, Bethany Hagan, Justina Ireland, Alaya Dawn Johnson, EK Johnston, Julie Murphy, Garth Nix, Natalie C. Parker, Veronica Roth, Sabaa Tahir, and Brenna Yovanoff.

A teen girl who offers kissing lessons. Zombies in the Civil War South. The girl next door, the boy who loves her, and the girl who loves them both. Vampires at a boarding school. Three teens fighting monsters in an abandoned video rental store. Literally the last three people on the planet.

(Note: this is not an LGBTQ anthology, but a significant number of the contributions are. Representation includes but is not limited to lesbian, bisexual, genderqueer, and polyamorous.)

Buy it: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository